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Red, Red Wine

China has shared a long and widely documented love affair with whiskey, but these days Sino sippers are fast gaining a reputation for their growing appreciation of other high-end tipples, with recent reports suggesting China is now the world’s largest consumer of red wine. With all this demand, there’s unsurprisingly an increased need for supply, and La Bordeauxthèque in Xidan’s Galeries Lafayette is aiming to fill that gap with its 600-label-strong cellar covering a range of vintages and varieties from the Bordeaux region, like Mouton Rothschild, Château Margaux and hard-to-find Haut-Brion.

The staff of qualified sommeliers – all of whom speak English, Mandarin and French – are on hand to help you find your pick of the pack, the lower end of which, despite the bar’s upscale fit-out of floor-to-ceiling wine racks and slate floors, starts around the easy-to-swallow RMB100 mark (though a top-shelf bottle can go for up to RMB1million!). If you’d rather imbibe in-house, there’s a wide selection of red, white and sweet wines by the glass, or you can enjoy any bottle at the bar without incurring a corkage fee. To accompany there’s an array of classic French plates from foie gras and imported cheeses, to steak tartare and even profiteroles for sweet tooths. Santé!